Fixation
by Aggie Escott
Summary: Who is watching Aaron?
1. Openings

Fixation  
Chapter 1  
Opening

"_**It's like a fixation. You can't help it. I get that way every time I'm trying to work something out. But it's bad if you can't pull out of it. Nothing should be that dominating. If it is, it is perverted." – Bill Evans**_

Hotch leaned against his desk and watched his team through the window over the bull pen. It was his second day back at work. Reid had been back three weeks, and Dave was still off. Hotch had a letter in his hand that he had to deal with, but he wasn't sure how. This unsure feeling was new to him. Usually he was confident in his decisions and rarely second guessed himself. But this letter was different.

_Dear Sir_ it began. Over formal.  
_I wish this letter to be taken as my formal notice of resignation from the BAU._

There was more, but that was the relevant part. It was signed at the bottom by Spencer. Somehow, Hotch had to talk him out of it.

With a deep sigh, he reached for his phone.

'Reid, please may I see you in my office.'

Since Hotch had been back, Reid had carefully avoided eye contact. Hotch had a feeling he knew why. The same reason he wanted to quit.

There was a knock on the door, and Reid entered Hotch's office. He looked at the letter in his hand, then looked down at the floor.

'Sit down, Spencer.' Hotch said, and the younger man obeyed, carefully examining his finger nails. 'I have your letter here. It tells me everything except why. I think I deserve to know the answer.' He pulled his chair around the desk and sat down.

'I think it's time I moved on.' was his answer.

'But we need you here.' Hotch stood up and went to the door, locking it. This was important. He didn't wasn't to be disturbed. 'Tell me honestly, Spencer. Have I offended you?'

'Oh no, Hotch. it's me. It's just me.'

'Is it because of what happened in the hut?'

Reid looked at his boss, tears in his eyes. 'Yes. I can't be close to you, Aaron. I feel dirty, letting that happen. I can't shake the feeling off.' The tears ran down his face and dripped into his lap. Hotch had the urge to reach out and touch them.

'Spencer, what ever he did to you was Symmonds' fault, not yours. You are not dirty. Please don't leave because of that.'

'Aaron........ you know how I feel about you. I can't even look at you in the eyes any more........' Reid's words degenerated into sobs, and he wiped angrily at his tears.

Hotch reached forwards and took his hands and waited. Gradually the tears subsided. Hotch waited until he was calm again, apart from the ragged breathing.

'I understand, Spencer, but you cannot blame yourself. If it is anyone's fault it is mine. i am the Unit Chief. I should have protected you but I just lay there and let it happen. I am sorry.' Hotch's mind flooded with images of the assault, and he felt his own eyes fill up. He blinked away the tears.

Spencer finally looked Hotch in the eyes. 'I have never blamed you, Aaron.' he said.

'Well neither should you blame yourself. We need you here, Spencer. I can't accept your resignation.' He held the letter out to Reid.

Reid smiled weakly at his boss, and took the letter off him.

'After work, I'm meeting Dave for drinks. Please come with us.'

Reid nodded, his fingers screwing up the letter in his hand. He stood up and went to the door . Hotch watched him go.

The door closed behind him, and he watched until Reid was back in his seat at his desk.

Then he took his chair back behind his desk, and opened his top drawer. The rose was still there where he had put it. Its deep red, almost black petals were beginning to wither. He picked it up and tossed it into the bin.

-0-0-0-

After work, Spencer waited for Hotch, and they took the elevator together. They had to gon and pick up Dave because he wasn't yet driving. There was a nice English pub on the outskirts of Quantico that they were going to try. Reid felt shy and a little intimidated. He had made the decision to leave, and now he had to rethink his whole future. It was hard standing this close to the man he loved. He was having a hard job coming to terms with the rejection of his resignation. He had a job lined up in a library and now he had to tell them that he wouldn't be starting. He sighed as the lift doors opened and the two of them walked to Hotch's car.

Dave lived in a house about twenty minutes drive in rush hour traffic. The dogs went mad with excitement when they saw Hotch at the gate. Dave came out of his door and hobbled down the path on crutches. He smiled when he saw the two agents waiting for him. He had been looking forward to this.

They passed a pleasant evening in the bar. Dave and Spencer drank larger and Hotch drank Perrier. They chatted about cases they had worked and UnSubs they had apprehended. But they avoided talking about Symmonds. They all had aspects of that case that they would have preferred to forget. Dave still had an underlying feeling of guilt,that his two closest friends were in danger of dying because of a book he'd written. He had been relived when Hotch returned to work, but the guilt still burned in his heart.

He hadn't written another word since the case.

Hotch checked his watch. He didn't want a late night because he was at work the next day, but he didn't want to go home just yet. The apartment still felt cold and un homely.

'Back to my place for a night cap?' he asked.

'Let's go to mine.' Dave said. 'Makes it easier,'

'That's settled then.' Hotch said with a smile. He finished his mineral water and stood up.

-0-0-0-

"_I am waiting for them to come out. They shouldn't be too long now. I have the door in my sights, the cross hairs on the door. I hope he read the letter I sent him. I asked him to wear the rose that I bought for him – a beautiful blood red rose I chose especially for him. I want him to wear it close to his heart, where his love for me dwells."_

_I could see my chance as soon as Haley left. How could she hurt him? I'll never understand the woman. I never liked her but I feigned a friendship to get close to him. Now he is free, I can watch him, waiting for the right moment to show him how I feel."_

_But there is now an obstacle to my happiness. Two men who vie for him and I need to eliminate them. But I want to kill them, their unnatural desires an obstruction to what it should be."_

_The door is opening and the three of them exit onto the street. I line up my sights."_

_The taller man, younger than the others. The cross hairs move slowly down his lanky frame. Finally it settles on his forehead. i could kill him as easy as that, just a twitch of my finger and he's dead, barrier gone."_

_But how would that affect My Love? He might be cut up about the death. My sights swing to the man in the centre and my stomach twists with desire. The sights hover over his chest, his heart, the seat of love."_

_There is no rose there. My gift has been rejected. I feel a flutter of rage as my finger moves on the trigger. How could he reject my love, all my being I want to give to him."_

_But I can't kill him. He is too beautiful to die so quickly."_

_My sights move to the third man, the older man. Once again, I begin at the top of his body, starting with his forehead. So easy it would be to eliminate him. He would be gone forever, and it would free my Darling from his aberrant obsession."_

_But no. I move the sights and settle briefly on the man's chest. I realise that I don't even know his name. I always think of him as the older man."_

_His leg is in plaster and that is where the sights finally rest. From this distance, I could take him out. But I don't. I just want him out of the picture and leave an opportunity for me."_

_I pull the trigger._

-0-0-0-

It was a short walk back to the car. It had started sowing and Rossi and Reid were slightly tipsy. Reid started to giggle as Rossi struggled with his crutches in his less than competent state. Dave grinned as the crutches seemed to take on a life of their own. They walked towards the car, the three men laughing at Rossi's vain attempts to keep upright. It felt good to be laughing again.

Suddenly Dave collapsed in the snow next to Hotch. Hotch laughed and reached his hand out to help him up again.

'Are you alright, Dave.' he said.

Reid went round Hotch to help Dave to his feet. It was then that the two agents noticed the blood on the snow.

'Dave?'


	2. Shooter

A/N I had difficulty writing this after seeing the premiere this morning. I hope its ok. Thank you to all my reviewers. Reviews make me happy

Fixation  
Chapter 2  
Shooter

"_**We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey." – Kenji Miyazawa**_

Dave had his eyes closed, his face contorted in pain.

'I think I've been shot.' he said through gritted teeth. Aaron knelt beside him in the rapidly settling snow. Reid was on the phone.

Hotch looked around. 'Did you see where the shot came from?' Dave's cast was broken and spattered with blood.

Dave shook his head. 'Didn't see......god it hurts!'

Another shot split the air as Hotch dragged Dave through the snow to the shelter of the car. Reid crawled along beside them, his revolver ready. A third shot, and the three men were behind the car.

'Reid, did you see where the shots are coming from?'

'I think behind the wall over there.' He pointed to a low wall at the other side of the street.

'I'll cover you, Spencer, try and get over there.'

Reid crawled out of the shelter of the car; Hotch fired his gun in the direction of the UnSub. Reid, bent double, ran along the road, adjacent to the wall, to the end. He turned the corner, but the shooter had gone. There were some shell casings on the ground, melting the snow where they had fallen.

'Reid!' Hotch shouted. He got out his phone and called for back up.

'Shooter's gone, Hotch.' Reid called back, carefully picking up the shell casings in a tissue. As he went back to Hotch and Dave, he heard the ambulance coming.

Rossi was struggling to stay conscious; the trail of blood across the snow was gradually being covered. His eyes rolled in their sockets. Hotch took his hand.

'The EMT's are coming, Dave. Stay with me now.'

Dave tried to focus on Hotch, and failed, his eyes closed and he lost conscious.

-0-0-0-

_That's one down. The other, the tall lanky one, I will take out in good time. But it needs to be soon. I want Aaron Hotchner to be free to accept what I have to give him. I can watch the chaos from here – Hotch dragging Rossi through the snow and trying to protect him. I could kill them all as easily as you like if I wanted to. From my vantage point I sit and watch as Rossi is taken off in an ambulance, and I hope he will be out of the picture for some time._

_I know I am rambling, but the excitement of it all is getting to me. I look down the sights of my gun at Hotchner. You will never know how glad I was when Haley left._

_Aah Haley you Bitch. You never loved him like I do._

_Anyway back to the work in hand. Hotchner and the skinny one have got into the car and driven away. Tomorrow I will get the other one. I will kill him though. I know, I can see by the look in his eyes that he wants Hotchner. Well he can't have him. He's mine._

_When I get home I will make the bouquet for Hotchner. I hope he likes it, as much as I enjoy planning it._

-0-0-0-

The flowers arrived at the BAU early the next morning. It is when Hotch saw them that he made the inevitable connection.

Calling the rest of the team together he threw a photograph of the bouquet onto the desk

'This arrived this morning.' he said. 'Together with this note addressed to me.'

The note Hotch put on the table. Reid picked it up and read it aloud.

'"These are for you, My Love. Blood red rose with snow white. Do you recognise the imagery?" It seems you have a stalker, Hotch.'

'But why take out Dave like that?' Morgan asked. 'It doesn't make any sense.'

'There could be prints on the note.' Hotch said. 'Also there could be prints on the cellophane of the bouquet. The bouquet and the note are in the lab being checked for prints. If we can match the prints, we will be able to definitely connect the sender of the flowers to Dave's shooter.'

'How is Dave?' Emily asked.

'He was fine when I called earlier.' Morgan said. 'He has had to have his leg plated because the bone is shattered but he will recover.'

'Call the lab.' Hotch said, 'And see if they have found anything.'

-0-0-0-

Apart from being able to categorically state that the sender and shooter were one and the same, there was no progress in the case. That evening, Hotch decided to go home.

He sent the team home to get some sleep hoping that in the morning they would have fresh eyes to look at the case. He rode the elevator down to the car park with Reid.

'Would you be able to drive me home Hotch.' Reid said. 'I came to work without my car today.'

Hotch opened the passenger's door for Reid and got into the driver's seat. They drove up the ramp and joined the Quantico traffic. It wasn't busy. Most commuters had already gone home now. Neither spoke as Hotch drove the short distance to Reid's building.

'Thanks Hotch. I'll see you tomorrow.'

Reid got out of the car and went up the steps to his door. As he turned to wave, the shot split the air and Reid looked down at his chest in astonishment. He fell forward down the steps and rolled onto the sidewalk. Hotch opened his door and used it as a shield as he tried to drag Reid back into the safety of the SUV he was driving. Reid groaned as Hotch got him under the arms and pulled, his hands fighting to get a grip on the blood. The wound was a through and through, leaving a large fist sized wound on Reid's back.

He unholstered his weapon and tried to see where the shots were coming from. Holding his gun ready he moved round to the front of the car. A bullet hit the car above his head and he threw himself to the ground, rolling onto his back.

Several bullets hit the car, and Hotch immediately realised that he was in the line of sights of the shooter. Even as he thought this, a bullet whistled through the air and hit his shoulder.

His response to that was to drop his gun and try to move back behind the safety of the door. He was feeling sick as the pain from the wound hit his brain, and he passed out.

-0-0-0-

Gradually Hotch began to be aware of self again. He was in a car, lying, he thought on the floor behind the seats. The pain of the gunshot was trying to keep him under, but he needed to stay awake to try to think of what was happening.

Reid!

He looked to see if he was in the back of the car with him, but is seemed that he was alone. The car was driving, and he wondered if Reid was taking him to the ER.

Then he remembered that Reid was shot.

He tried to get up, and that was when he realised that he had been tied up, and his hands were behind his back, and his ankles and knees were together.

'Where are you taking me?' he said, trying to keep the tremor of pain out of his voice. There was no answer, as the car swerved around a corner and drove along rough ground.

He had no idea where he was, only that he couldn't move. He worried about Reid. He remembered that Reid had been lying in the road beside the car.

'Who are you? He asked, not expecting an answer. When one came he was surprised.

'You didn't wear my rose I sent you.'

It was a woman's voice.

The car pulled up suddenly, and Hotch hit the back of the seats. The woman got out of the car and moved round to the back of the car, and opened the door. Without making any attempt to be gentle with the injured man, she dragged him out of the back of the car.

'Reid? Where is Reid?'

The woman ignored him and dragged him across cracked concrete to a building. From where he was, it looked like a large old house, but he couldn't be sure. He squirmed and fought the woman but the wound in his shoulder had weakened him.

'Where is Reid?' he said again, as the woman dropped him on the concrete as she opened the door of the house.

'Never mind about him, Lover, you have me now.' she said. She pushed open the door and dragged him inside. Hotch tried to look around at the room he was in. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. The woman pulled him across the carpet to a radiator that was on the opposite wall. Using a knife she cut Aaron's jacket and shirt away. She put a cable tie around the muscle of his upper arm and pulled it tight. She then attached his arm to the radiator. He looked up at her in the darkness. And that was when he recognised her.

'Are you Haley's friend? He asked, surprised.

'I hate the woman. Don't mention her name. You are here now because you are mine. She rejected you, I love you. I always have, and I will care for you now.'

As if in response to her own words, she cut the ties around his legs. She left his hands in restraints.

She left him alone while she lit a paraffin lamp, and Aaron had a chance to look around him.

The room would once have been sumptuously furnished with velvet and deep brocades, but now it was shabby and cobwebs draped across the ceiling.

'What is this place?' he asked. He was starting to feel light headed from the gunshot wound to his shoulder. The blood was running freely down his restrained arm, and he could feel the warmth of it on his body as it ran down to the waist band of his trousers.

'This is my place, and I guarantee that you will come to like it.' she said, and bent down next to him. She put her lips on his and kissed him, forcing his mouth open with her tongue. He tried not to gag as she forced herself on him. She sat back on her heels, obviously disappointed.

'Well I thought you would be more responsive. You are nothing like what Haley said you were.'

She stood up and shook the curtain that was covering the window behind him. Aaron coughed as the dust motes in the air became thick.

'I will be back for you tomorrow. I am going to bed now.' she said, and by way of good bye she kicked him hard in the groin. He tried to curl up as the pain formed a fire and coursed through his veins. She smiled as she saw him turn pale with shock.

'That was because you refused to kiss me. You will soon learn how to please me.'

She bent down and kissed him lightly on the forehead. He was in too much pain to respond in either way to her.

'Good night.' she said brightly. 'I will come for you in the morning.'

She took the lamp and left Aaron in darkness.

-0-0-0-

_I have him. I have him. I have him. I can't believe it was so easy. The perverts are out of the way and now My Love can concentrate his affections on me. It has taken a long time, but I know that deep down he loves me, and we will be happy together in my beautiful house._

-0-0-0-

On the other side of town it had started snowing again. A man lying in the gutter looked drunk to passers by, and the blood had been covered quickly by the falling snow.


	3. LoveLust

Fixation  
Chapter3  
LoveLust

"_**Lust**__**'s passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.**__**" – Marquis De Sade**_

Aaron shivered in the cold of the house. The radiator behind him wasn't switched on, and it dug into his back. He tried to swivel round so that his back wasn't against it, and tried to sit sideways, but the tie around his arm was too tight, and was giving him pins and needles in his fingers. There was no chance he would be able to sleep, his shoulder hurt and the pain in his groin was like fire shooting through him. He felt shaky with pain, and fear for Spencer.

He spent a cold uncomfortable night strapped to the radiator. He watched the moon light cross the room, counting the hours until the first rays of the sun shone through the window. He had a proper look at his surroundings now he was alone in the room.

The walls were hung with tapestries and paintings. The tapestries were torn and dirty, the pictures there depicted long since faded beyond recognition. The paint on the radiator was chipped and cracked, and rust spots peered through the metal.

Aaron shifted so that he could see through the window. He was not able to see much from the angle he was sitting in, the dusty drapes covering half the view. The radiator cut into his back, and he shifted back to a less painful position.

At that moment the door opened, and the woman came back in.

'Good morning Lover.' she said brightly. Aaron turned to her.

'I need something to clean up my shoulder.' he said. He was starting to feel sick with the throbbing pain that seemed to echo his heart beat.

'Oh that's fine. You don't need anything doing with it, Aaron.' She bent down and touched Aaron's cold arm. 'You're freezing! Let me warm you up.'

She knelt by his side and put her arms around him, rubbing her coarse hands up and down Aaron's cold arms. Aaron flinched from her touch.

'Don't recoil from me!' she shouted, smacking his face with the back of her hand. His head rocked back and struck the radiator. He thought that he had cut it, he could feel the warmth of blood running down the back of his neck.

'Sorry.' he said. 'I didn't mean to.'

She smiled at him again. 'You are a fast learner.' She touched him again. He tried not to cringe. 'I will turn on the radiator now. that will warm you up.'

Before Aaron could protest, she had left the room. He shuddered, wondering what she had planned for him.

-0-0-0-

At last some one stopped and checked on Reid. He was soaked through now, the snow melting in the insipid early morning sun. The girl and her boyfriend knelt beside him.

'He's hurt, not drunk.' she said. 'Call an ambulance.

The young man in the gutter didn't react. He was hypothermic and weak. He couldn't even turn his head or say thank you to his life savers.

-0-0-0-

_This is going to be harder than I thought. Why does he not respond to me? I love him, but he won't love me. I will have to punish him until he obeys m._

_i don't really want to hurt him, but if I have to then I will._

_I touch him again, and he lets me this time but he looks so unhappy and distressed. I am going to kiss him again. I touch my lips on his mouth and press my tongue against his beautiful white teeth. _

'_Kiss me' I will, but his mouth stays still and non reactive._

_I stand back from him and look down, and my heart misses a beat. God he is so beautiful, and I have him as mine for as long as I wish to keep him. Touching his dark unruly hair, I tell him that. He looks up at me with those dark eyes._

'_I need to wash this gunshot.' he says to me. I have already told him that it doesn't need anything, and I am upset that i will have to punish him again._

-0-0-0-

She brought her fist back and hit him. He felt his nose crack under the assault.

'I told you that your shoulder was ok. So stop fussing for heaven's sake!' she shouted. 'I don't enjoy punishing you you know.'

'Where is Reid?'

'You don't need to worry your head about him.' the woman said. She paused, and then said, 'I haven't introduced myself. I am Linda. You don't have a name. You don't need one any more.'

'I am Aaron Hotchner.' he said. Linda grew indignant. She pushed her fingers into his thick hair and deliberately hit his head against the radiator. More blood flowed, and Aaron felt himself weaken.

Aaron shivered. It was so cold in the house. Linda smiled down at him. 'I will put the heating on.' she said. 'You are cold.'

She left the room again, leaving Aaron alone. He knew what she wanted – his total compliance – but that he refused to give. And therefore he expected punishment.

He felt the vibrations in the radiator at his back, and heard the clanging as water began to be pumped around the ancient system. Gradually the icy pipes warmed up and Aaron felt the warmth reach through his body. Linda came back.

'Please would you loosen the tie on my arm.' Aaron asked. It is too tight, my fingers are going numb.'

'I am sorry, Lover. I can't let you go. I don't trust you enough yet. Maybe once you love me, and I can trust you, then I will be able to free you. But not yet.'

The radiator was getting really hot now. Aaron could feel his skin blister where it was touching the metal. He tried to pull away, but he couldn't.

Linda sat down next to her captive. 'It is such an honour to have you here with me.' she said. 'I have wanted you for a long time, but I had to get our home just right first.'

Aaron glanced around the room. How had she got all this stuff? Where had it come from?

'It's very nice.' he lied. 'Thank you.'

'I'm so glad that you like it.' Linda said, and kissed the corner of his mouth gently. Aaron tried not to recoil from her.

-0-0-0-

Reid woke up in the ambulance. The paramedics had stripped him and wrapped him in a silver foil blanket to try to bring his temperature up, as he was hypothermic.

'Do you know your name?' the medic asked. Reid looked up at her with his wide hazel eyes.

'I'm Spencer Reid, Special Agent with the FBI.'

'Good.' the medic said. 'You are hypothermic, but that probably saved your life. You have been shot in the chest, and you would have bled out if you hadn't been lying in the snow.'

'There was someone with me.' he said. 'Where is Aaron?'

'When you were found you were alone, Mr. Reid. There was no one with you.'

'He wouldn't have left me.' Spencer said, his brain sending out confusing thoughts. He felt sick as the pain of his gunshot wound hit home as he warmed up. The medics turned him onto his side to try to stop the bleeding from his back. Spencer passed out.

-0-0-0-

_I would like to let my Lover lose so that I could make sweet love to him. But I don't trust him. It is a sad thing when you can't trust the man you love, but he hasn't been here long enough yet. I only hope I don't have to kill him to keep him here. That would be a shame, although I would still have his body._

_I put my hands around his neck and squeeze hard. It feels to me as if I am in control of his life, able to take it or leave it as I wish. I see his skin turning red and he makes sounds as if he is dying, but the thrill of killing is almost too much for me, and I find it difficult to stop._

_Oh yes I am going to enjoy you right up to the end._

-0-0-0-

Aaron choked and gagged as she released his throat, and he vomited violently onto the thread bare carpet.

'Why?...... ' he broke into a paroxysm of coughing. 'Why did you do that?'

'If you are no use to me, Lover, I will kill you.'

Aaron was tired, and his back was burning on the hot metal. 'Please release me. I am burning.'

'Sorry. I can't. I don't trust you.' She tilted his head back, holding onto his hair, she kissed him. Aaron let her do what she wanted without responding, but without pushing her away. She kissed him deeply, and held his face between her hands, and held him still.

'I love you so much.' she whispered. 'Haley was a fool to leave you. A wicked, stupid fool'

Aaron pulled away from her. 'She had her reasons.' he said.

'She hurt you. No one will hurt you again though. Here with me you will be happy. I will care for you, feed you and love you. And soon you will love me too.'

'I cannot be forced to love you.' Aaron said.

'It will be the natural progression of our relationship.' Linda said.

'There is no relationship.' Aaron said, leaning forward away from the heat. His arms behind his back were sticking to the metal as the blisters burst. It was agony. He tried not to think about it and concentrate on the woman in front of him.

'Why did you shoot my friends?' he asked.

They weren't friends.' she said. 'they were a corrupting influence on you. They had to be eliminated to leave the way open for us. Surely you understand that.'

'Please untie me. I am burning. I need some water'

She smacked him across the face again as hard as she could.

'Don't keep on!' she said. 'I will get you a drink.'

Aaron didn't say anything. The woman was psychotic – one minute saying how she loved him, the next, hurting him. He didn't want to do anything to rile her.

He sipped at the cup of water that she had brought him. It tasted odd, and he wondered if it might be drugged, but if this was all she was going to give him, he had to accept it and hope that she wasn't poisoning him. He finished the cup, and was immediately sick again. there was something in the water, and his stomach cramped horribly, and as he retched and choked, he passed out leaning back against the radiator.


	4. LoverMan

Fixation  
Chapter 4  
LoverMan

"_**We waste time looking for the perfect **__**lover**__**, instead of creating the perfect love.**__**"- Tom Robbins**_

_  
I can't understand why my Love has reacted so badly to the drug. He shouldn't have reacted like that. I have tried this drug on my dog and he wasn't sick. I need to get this man to the bedroom quickly before it wears off. I am cutting the ties now. I will leave the one around his upper arm I think. I like the look of it there. I run my fingers along the thin plastic tie, and it sends shivers down my back._

-0-0-0-

Aaron knew he was being moved. He felt his feet touch the floor as Linda lifted him away from the radiator. His arm hurt where the tie was still tight around it, but he was no longer attached to the pipe. Burst blisters from second degree burns sent fluid trickling down his back but he couldn't understand why it didn't hurt. He felt a hand under his arm, and he involuntarily leaned into the woman who was standing with him.

_Where are we going?....._

He tried to speak but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. She half dragged him to the bottom of a wide staircase, and one by one they mounted the stairs.

He noticed a carpet on the stairs, old and threadbare, and dull wooden balustrades. He reached out to steady himself, as the room spun around him. Linda's grip on him increased across his back as he fell sideways on the stairs. He felt her hands slide on the blisters as she tried to support him. He slipped from her grasp and in slow motion he felt himself fall to the bottom of the stairs, and he blacked out.

-0-0-0-

_I didn't mean to drop him, he just slipped out of my grasp. I need to get him restrained in the bedroom before the drug wears off. I've not used it on a man before so I don't know long he is going to stay unconscious. I've tried picking him up but he was too heavy. I am going to have to drag him upstairs. I turn him on his front and drag him up the stairs one at a time._

_Aah at last, I have him on the bed. It's not my bed, but the spare one in the next room. I tighten the restraints on his wrists strapping them onto the rail above his head and stand back and examine my work._

_God he's beautiful, and he's mine now......._

-0-0-0-

Hotch woke up face down on the bed with his hands above his head, tied to the bed. There was still a tie around his upper arm, and the skin was beginning to bleed around the edges, and the blood ran in small rivulets down onto the bed. He turned his head to one side and tried to see if Linda was watching him.

He saw her sitting alongside the bed watching him. Her eyes were sparkling with lust.

'Please would you cut the tie on my arm.' he said.

'No. I like it there.' she said with a smile, and she stood up and touched the tie with rough fingers. She looked at the blood on her fingertips.

'You're bleeding.' she said, as if it was the first time she noticed. She climbed on the bed and sat astride him, running her fingers up and down the ridge of his spine. She leaned down and pressed her face into his hair and bit gently at his skin on the back of his neck, but he lay impassively and unresponsive. Angrily she hit him again, but he didn't flinch from her harsh attack. He simply lay still and tried to ignore her.

'You will respond to me, or I will hurt you!' she shouted at him.

'You have tied me up here, but you can't make me respond.' he said, as her rough hands massaged his shoulders. Forcefully, leaving long red wealds where her nails jabbed into him.

'I don't want to hurt you, Lover, but I will if I have to.'

She got off the bed and turned his face towards her, her fingers in his hair. She kissed his forehead, and dropped his head back down.

'I will fetch something to make you more compliant.' she said, and left the room.

Aaron let out a long sigh and relaxed his body. He needed all his self control to prevent a response to her, and it was exhausting him. He lay with his head on one side, looking towards the door, waiting for her to come back. He took the time to glance around the room.

He was strapped to a four poster bed in what looked like a long neglected stately home. The sheets on the bed were heavily embroidered, but the pattern had worn away. Each time he moved, a cloud of dust rose from the bed. It had been a long time since the bed had been used. He coughed as he breathed in the dust, feeling it stick in his already dry throat.

-0-0-0-

Reid was coming to. He first noticed the smell of his surroundings – a medical hospital smell. The lights were low and the room was pleasantly warm. He was lying on a hard bed, on his side. He tried to get up, and a hand gently pressed him back down again.

'Doctor Reid, please don't try to get up.' a voice said. The nurse came into his view. 'You had a serious gunshot wound, but we think we've sorted it out as best we can. You should be fine, but it is going to take some time.

'Aaron...... Where's Aaron? We were together.'

'You were alone when we found you. There was no one else.'

'I need a phone, please, it's urgent.'

'You can't have a phone in here, but I can make a call for you.'

Reid gave her Morgan's number. 'Tell him it's urgent.' he said. 'And please hurry.'

-0-0-0-

_I am looking through my things. I have a belt in my hand that I could use on him. It has a large buckle with a thin pointed awl. I can feel my heart beating faster in anticipation of hitting him with it, see the blood flow and the welts deepen in colour. I smack it across the side of the wardrobe and it makes a satisfying sound as it strikes. I am smiling now as I think of the bad I could do with it, and I take it next door to my Lover's room._

_I decide not to tell him what I am going to do. I bring the buckle down hard across his bare back, and the awl tears in to his skin, ripping him open. The blood runs onto the bed, and I hit him again, watching his skin quiver as the belt catches his pale skin. _

'_I don't enjoy hurting you.' I say, but I think it's a lie. I can feel a sexual thrill as the belt rips into him again and again, until his back is a criss cross of cuts and tears. But he keeps his head turned away from me, and I can't see how it is affecting him, which I think would be more of a thrill. So I turn his head to face me. I love pulling at his hair – so thick and soft and blood soaked._

_He refuses to open his eyes and look at me. I try to force them open but I can't do it, and I can feel a rage building up within me as I see his indifference._

_I make a circle with the bloody end of the belt and loop it over his head. Pulling it tight, I watch with amusement as his face turns red and his tongue sticks out of his mouth. I need to be careful though. I don't want him dead before I've had all the fun I can out of him. I leave it tight as he stops breathing, his lovely dark eyes wide with what I hope is terror._

_Time to loosen it I suppose, but I am feeling aroused and I don't want to stop. This is a thrill far better than kissing, and so much easier to achieve. I don't need a response from him for that._

_I had better loosen it, and after a few seconds he starts to breathe again. I realise that I don't want to make love with him, I just want to hurt him, and I am feeling deliriously happy at the prospect of keeping him here, just to torture and hurt._

-0-0-0-

Aaron sucked in a deep breath as soon as the belt was released from his throat. He coughed and gagged and threw up on the bed. He couldn't react to anything; he was far too preoccupied with staying alive. The tight band around his bicep was forgotten in the wake of this newer pain. He needed a drink, but he didn't want to give Linda another way to torture him, since he was certain that if he asked for some water she would delight in not giving him any.

Suddenly all thoughts were obliterated out of his mind as the belt was tightened around his neck again. He fought for breath, unable to take in the oxygen he needed. He wanted to look her in the eyes, but there was a thin grey mist covering his vision, and he thought he would pass out or die pretty soon.

Once again she released him at the last possible moment, and he managed to stay conscious. She let go of the belt and stooped down and smiled at him.

'Thank you.' was all she said, and she turned her back on him and left the room.

Hotch brought his knees up towards his chest, and tried to curl up in a protective ball. He felt safer like this, although he thought that she wouldn't allow him to stay like this when she returned.

-0-0-0-

_Time to eat. I haven't got much in the house, but I have several bars of chocolate. It makes me fat and spotty, I know but who cares. I have the man of my dreams at my mercy in the next room. I'm sure I will kill him by mistake sooner or later, but that wouldn't be murder, because I don't want him dead. His body would only be of any use for a few days and then he would be gone. I want him living screaming and begging for mercy. But I think that will be a long time in coming. He is a lot stronger than the last one._

_The chocolate is very nice. I wonder if I ought to offer some to my Lover. I think it would make him thirsty though, and I don't intend to give him any water. Not yet anyway. I know that dehydration can make the strongest man beg, and that would be awesome coming from him._

_I finish the bar and leave the wrapper on the kitchen worktop. It's not a very clean kitchen. I don't cook in it. I feel better now and I take a tin of fizzy drink from the encrusted fridge and drink half of it in one go._

_None for you lover man. I need you to beg first._


	5. The Cold

A/N. Sorry this has been a long time coming. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I have had problems with this story – I wonder if I should abandon it and start again. What are your thoughts? Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers. It makes me so happy when I get feedback  
Anyway, let me know what you think. – Aggie x

Fixation  
Chapter 5  
The Cold

"_**If you are **__**cold**__** at night, let the promise of my love cover you like a warm blanket**__**" – Matthew White**_

Morgan was standing at the end of Reid's bed. Spencer was propped up on pillows so he could see around him.

'Someone had taken Aaron.' he said. 'We were together when I was shot – he had just dropped me off at home, I was shot on the steps of my building, but Hotch was there. He would never have left me like that. He's been abducted.'

Morgan took out his cell and called Hotch's apartment. He let it ring ten times, then he closed his phone.

'He's not answering his cell. Are there surveillance cameras at your building?'

'There are in the foyer, I'm not sure about out in the street.' Reid said.

'I'll get round there and see. We need the ballistics from the bullet that hit you, to see if it's the same UnSub that shot Rossi '

'How is Rossi?'

'He's doing a lot better, Reid. He is on this floor, I'll let him know you are here, he might be able to come and see you now he's not confined to bed.'

'Just find Aaron.' Reid said. 'He could be in danger.'

-0-0-0-

'Does it hurt?' Linda asked, touching the bloody mess that was Aaron's back. He flinched away from her, but he didn't say anything. 'I have some antiseptic here. It might sting when I put it on you.'

She unstoppered the bottle of brown liquid and began to pour the liquid across his back. Hotch gritted his teeth as the iodine ran into his wounds. He didn't want to cry out and give her the satisfaction. He straightened his legs and pulled his back away from her.

She stooped down so that she was level with him.

'That hurt you, didn't it, my Love?' she said, smiling.

He stared at her, but refused to speak. The blood and iodine ran down his sides and soaked into the old counterpane. She stood up again and picked up some cloth she had brought with her, and wiped his back. He winced at her harsh touch.

'I am thirsty.' he said when she had finished. 'I need a drink of water.'

'Soon, Loverman, soon.' she said, pushing her fingers into his hair and turning his face so that he was looking at her. 'Kiss me first, and then I'll see.'

She pressed her lips against his mouth, and tried to kiss him, but he didn't respond to her. He closed his eyes and concentrated on indifference.

'Why did you shoot my friends?' he asked when she pulled away.

'They were rivals. They are both in love with you. I wanted to clear the way for me. If they come near you again, next time I will kill them.' she said. 'Now I will punish you for refusing to kiss me. Is it so much to ask? Just to love me, that's all I want. But now you have made it clear that you won't even try, then I must punish you for what you have done.'

She reached under him and unzipped his trousers. He had an idea what he was going to do, and he kicked out at her. She climbed onto the bed and sat across his hips, facing his legs. She pulled his clothes off, leaving him naked and unprotected. Then she tied his ankles to the bed posts. He fought and kicked, but he was weakened by bloodloss and excruciating pain, and he couldn't prevent her from doing it.

He felt some relief that he was faced down on the bed, but he was still vulnerable to her. She pulled his hair and pressed her mouth against his neck, biting and sucking at his skin.

'Soon I will be leaving you for a while. I have to go to work. But I will be back for you in the morning.'

She kissed his cheek, and turned away from him. She left the room, and Hotch suddenly felt very cold. The anxiety had stopped him from thinking about the cold, but there was snow on the window, and one of the panes was broken, and he could feel the cold wind on his naked body. He shivered and tried to turn sideways so that he could curl up and conserve heat, but now his ankles were bound, his movement was limited. He shivered again as the cold air whistled around him.

-0-0-0-

_Damn it. I don't want to go to work. It has crossed my mind to call in sick, but I want to save my sick days for when Hotchner is more compliant. He really is beautiful, and I wish he would just try to love me. Just for him to return my kisses would be wonderful. But he has made it clear that he doesn't want me. Maybe I am trying too hard? Perhaps if I untie him?....._

_But he would be too difficult to control then. No I need him tied up. At least I can do what I want to him while he is restrained._

_I enjoyed pouring Iodine onto his back. I know how much that hurts. I had a little cut on my finger and I treated it with iodine. Boy was it painful. But he hardly even flinched!_

_He is my sweet brave loverman, and I am so proud that he is mine._

-0-0-0-

Hotch lay on his front on the dusty bed. The woman had gone so he allowed himself the luxury of moaning with the pain. Every time he moved puffs of dust rose from the pillow and he coughed again, his throat sore and dry. He had asked for water, but none seemed to be forthcoming. When it did it would probably be drugged, but that was a chance he would have to take.

He raised his head off the pillow and checked out the room again. He was so cold it felt as if his joints were frozen, and his breath froze on the bed. He thought that he wouldn't survive long like that, he would go hypothermic and his body would go into shock, and he could do nothing to prevent it.

He shivered violently, his whole body shaking. The cold helped to numb his back, but he could still feel where the iodine had been tipped over him.

He had to get away from there, or he would freeze to death, even sooner than she could kill him. He thought about what she had said about Dave and Spencer – that they were love rivals. He knew about their feelings, but if the woman had really known him, she would have known that there were no reciprocated feelings. He had to somehow get away and warn his friends of the danger that they were in.

He pulled at his wrists, but the plastic ties were held fast. They needed a blade to release them. The tie around his upper arm seemed to be getting tighter, and his fingers of that hand were without feeling now. The wound to his shoulder was throbbing now, making him feel sick.

How the hell was he going to get away?

Then he thought of something........

-0-0-0-

_I am so glad that shift is over and I am back here. It is good lying in this bed knowing that the man I love is only on the other side of the wall. I wish he could be in here with me though. Tomorrow I will drug him and bring him in here. But tonight I will wait._

_Unless it gets too urgent, then I will go and lay beside him. His room is too cold though and it would take too long to warm it up enough. He can stay there all night, I will give him something in the morning, and bring him in here where I can have him._

_Or hurt him. Hurting him, punishing him brings me great satisfaction. I don't know what I prefer really. Hurting him is fun, I want to see how far I have to go before he cries with the pain._

_He is a brave and courageous man. Most people would have cried when I poured Iodine on his wounds, but all he did was flinch._

_I need to think of what I can do next. He is naked and fully exposed now. I wish I didn't need to sleep, I want to work on him now._

_He has lovely hands. Maybe I can do something with his hands – hurt them. It should be easy as he is tied up and won't be able to move them, but it seems a shame to damage such beauty._

_I will go to sleep and dream of what I will do to him next._

-0-0-0-

Rossi was in a wheelchair and he took himself along the corridor to see Reid. They had said that he was lucky to still have his leg intact. The bone was so badly broken they had to do a bone graft into his shin. They had plated and pinned what bone he had, and told him that he would probably be able to walk on it, as long as he stuck to the physio routine he had been given.

He managed to manoeuvre the chair through Reid's door without hitting his leg on the door frame. Reid was sitting up in bed waiting for him to arrive.

'So what happened?' he asked.

Reid told him how he had been shot on the steps of his building and had lain in the snow most of the night. He didn't know where Aaron was, but believed he was in danger.

'I think whoever shot you and me did it to get us out of the way. We need to think of what happened, and figure out where he has been taken.' Reid said. 'It seems too much of a coincidence that we have both been shot and Hotch is missing.'

Dave sighed. 'If whoever shot us were aiming to kill, they are a bad shot.' Dave said. 'But they could have been aiming to maim rather than kill.'

'So the shooter could either be a really good shot, or a really poor shot.' Reid said. 'That doesn't get us very far.'

'We really need the others in on this.' Dave said, 'to get some input.'

'Morgan is getting the ballistics results on the bullets that hit you and me, to make certain that it is the same UnSub.' Reid said, 'But there is little doubt that it is.'

'They might get a hit on the bullets.' Dave said. 'Or finger prints on the shell casings in AFIS.'

'They are working on that now.' Reid said.

-0-0-0-

Ice was forming on Aaron's face, sticking his skin onto the pillow. He realised that he was not shivering any more, and knew that that meant he was hypothermic. He was having trouble thinking straight, and his mind would not stay on the problem. The image in the forefront of his mind was Jack. He wondered how Jack would be growing up without a Daddy, and he realised that he had to survive this even for his little boy's sake. He began to rock on the bed to try to warm himself up. To die of the cold was not an option. He had to fight it.


	6. Love Me

Fixation  
Chapter 6  
Love Me

"_**Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." – Robert Frost**_

_  
__Lying here alone really sucks. I won't be doing this again. In the morning I will go to him and bring him back in here. At least then I can cuddle him. Even if he objects I will have my own way because he will be tied up!_

_I'm getting excited thinking about it now. I will get up and watch him._

_Watching from the door way is exciting too. Just watching his chest move as he breathes, but I need to have my dressing gown on, it's freezing .......... Damn He's seen me......_

_-0-0-0-_

'Please, I must have a drink.' Aaron said huskily. The dust from the room and particularly from the bed had got into his throat, and he needed water sooner than he had hoped. \he guessed it would be drugged, but that was a risk he was prepared to take.

'Beg me for it.' she said, getting excited at the prospect. She had plans. If she could get him drugged so that it would be safe to untie him, just while she got him in position. ......

If only he would like her, she had given up on the idea of love, but she needed a way to get him excited for her. Hurting him was fun, but she was becoming bored with it. She wanted him, willingly or otherwise, it didn't matter.

'I'll die if.....' His words were broken off by a fit of coughing and shivering. She smiled at his obvious distress. There again, she didn't want him dead. Not yet anyway. Not until he had made love to her. The thought of his reticence suddenly made her angry. She pulled his head up of the dusty pillow and hit him as hard as she could. His nose cracked under her fist and blood poured out of it onto the bed. He didn't cry out or make a sound. She pressed his face down into the bloody pillow. He struggled against her, fighting for breath. His movements were sluggish as the cold took toll on his body. He felt the thin layer of ice on his pillow crack under the assault. She released him at the last possible moment, and Aaron took a deep breath in as he turned his head to the side.

That she really enjoyed. She twisted his head by grasping his hair and pressed his head down again. She was getting off on his struggles, especially as they became less and less as he ran out of oxygen. She released him again.

'I'll get you a drink.' she said, smiling at her man.

Her man. No one was going to take this one away. When the last one had died it had been a shock to her, but thinking about it now, had he lived, she wouldn't have this one, and this one was better!

She prepared the drink carefully. The drug was supposed to be tasteless, but she was concerned that he would refuse it if he could taste the drug.

The water was ice cold. She hoped that he would appreciate the trouble she was going to. She felt herself getting annoyed with him again, his steadfast refusal to make love to her. She had given him something most men would cry out for – her devotion and love. And yet still he refused her.

She threw the glass against the wall in her rage, where the glass shattered and the water spread across the floor of the kitchen.

'That was stupid!' she berated herself. The drug didn't come cheap – at least the way she had to acquire it wasn't cheap. Now she had wasted a dose. She swore to herself as she prepared a second glass.

-0-0-0-

Aaron knew that Linda would be drugging him. The only way not to be drugged was to not drink the water she gave him. But if he didn't drink it, he could die. It was a choice he had to make. He decided to accept the water and hope that when he came round he would be in a better position to escape. He guessed that there were better plans, but he was so cold and in pain, his mind wasn't working properly, and thinking in a logical order was beyond him.

She stood by him and watched him again as he breathed in and out raggedly. He was a joy to watch as his body shook with the cold and the ripped apart skin on his back quivered with pain.

'I have brought you a drink.' she said at last. 'Mind you drink it all or I might get angry with you again.'

She pushed her fingers into his thick dark hair and lifted his head off the pillow. She held the glass to his lips and smiled as he drank the water

It didn't taste drugged but that meant nothing. He knew of several poisons that were undetectable by taste. She held the glass and tipped it so that he finished the water and whatever else was in it. He felt his stomach cramp almost straight away, but he wasn't sure if that was just the reaction to the water. She let his head fall back onto the pillow, and sat on the chair by the bed and waited for the drug to take affect.

It didn't take long. Aaron twisted as his stomach rejected the water and he vomited it out onto the bed. He fought against being sick. He needed the liquid, drugged or not. He groaned with the pain of his stomach cramping, and then it was over. He looked at her with tired eyes, waiting for the drug to work. His vision suddenly blurred and he passed out on the bed.

-0-0-0-

_I need to hurry. I don't know how much of the drug stayed in his system, and how much he vomited out. I really want to wash him. While he is out, I will clean him up a bit. His hair is mucky and I want it clean so that I can touch it._

_I have a knife on me to cut the ties holding him to the bed. I release his ankles first, and I run my hands along his muscular legs. He is lovely, and I so hope that eventually he will come to love me._

_His legs are free now. If he is fooling me and he isn't drugged, he will easily over power me and escape. I need to check that he is indeed out cold._

_I bend one of his fingers back until I hear the snap. He moans slightly, but he doesn't react. I am safe to release his wrists._

_His arms drop onto the bed and he makes no sign that he is going to escape. I pull him off the bed and he crashes to the floor. I drag him by the feet out of the room and along the corridor to my bedroom. I can feel my heart beating fast as I pull him along towards my bed. This is where we will consummate our love!_

_He is heavy to lift, but I have good upper body strength, and I pull him onto the bed from the opposite side. I tie him as before, except this time he is face up._

_There. Job done and I am thrilled. I kiss his mouth and his neck. I can't wait for him to come round so that he can love me._

-0-0-0-

'Ballistics show that it is the same shooter in both cases.' Morgan told Reid and Rossi. 'Garcia has the surveillance tapes from your building to see if there is any clue as to the identity of the shooter, and if our suspicions are correct and the shooter took Hotch.'

The interesting thing is that the bullets match a shooting a year ago when another man was abducted.'

'He's done it before?' Dave exclaimed. 'What was the outcome of that case?'

'The man turned up dead six months after he was abducted. He had died of shock after being beaten and raped with an object. He was also drugged. The drug, similar to rohypnol had been administered frequently over the entire six month period. But they never caught the UnSub.'

'And now the UnSub has Hotch.' Reid said.

'So what do we know about the UnSub.' Dave said. 'Probably female since the man was raped with an object.'

'Low self esteem,' Reid added. 'Probably in mid thirties.'

'She has access to somewhere to hold someone for a long period of time, so she lies alone.'

'The shooting a year ago,' Rossi said, 'Who was shot? And did they survive?'

'It was the victim's girlfriend.' Emily said. 'Gun shot wound to the chest. She didn't make it.'

Reid was deep in thought.

'What is it, Reid?' Morgan asked.

'Well I was thinking that the girl friend was targeted last time and this time it was me and Dave. Almost as if she was eliminating rivals.'

Dave shot Reid a quizzical look, but the meaning wasn't lost on Morgan and Emily.

'She took Hotch because..........' Her words faded out, not quite wanting to say what she had concluded. She looked at the others. They had come to the same conclusion.

'So, how do we find him?'

'Hopefully, Garcia will come up with a picture of the UnSub, or even a car licence plate. Then the drug that the last victim was doped with is expensive on the streets. We might be able to get in that way.'

Morgan's phone rang. 'Hello Princess, what do you have for me?'

-0-0-0-

Aaron could sense he had been moved even before he was fully conscious again. The room smelt different and it wasn't so cold now. He was on his back, a position that hurt like hell as the rough sheet rubbed at his raw skin. He tested his wrists and ankles before opening his eyes. He was still in restraints, and he pulled at them, but he was fixed tight. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was on one side of a double bed, and the woman Linda was sitting on the edge of the bed smiling at him.

'I am sorry that I had to drug you, Loverman. I wanted you in this room where it is warmer, and I had to drug you to bring you in here. I hope you will forgive me.'

Aaron looked her in the eyes. 'You should let me go, Linda.' was all he said.

Linda turned around on the bed and stretched herself out next to him. She shuffled closer to him and put her arm around him. He tried not to recoil at her touch. He didn't want to antagonise her unnecessarily. But she knew.

'I have loved you, and you pull away from me. Some people go their whole life without love as I have for you, a true love, undying. And yet you reject me like this!'

'But I don't know you Linda. How can I love someone that I don't know.' he said.

'What a beautiful answer.' she gushed. She pressed against him. 'But I can't tell you about me. It is a profiler's trick to get me talking. I know enough about you to know that I love you.' She felt herself getting angry again. She pulled away from him and propped herself up on her elbow, looking down on him. 'Don't try to trick me, profiler. It won't work. I wasn't born yesterday you know. You should love me because I am looking after you. Who brought you water when you asked for it? Who brought you in here in the warm? Me! Me! Me! I am taking care of you. Now you should love me! I can hurt you, but all the time I am keeping you safe.' She bent forward and bit him hard on the neck, leaving teeth marks on his pale skin. Then she turned away from him so that he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

'Will you make love to me?' she asked, her hands exploring his body.

'No, I can't.' he said. Her hands touched him and squeezed him. She took him in her hands and twisted. This time he reacted. He screamed as she pulled at him and he struggled to get away, but she just applied more pressure and he screamed again.

She let go. 'Now you know what I can do to you, Will you love me now?'

But Aaron couldn't answer. The agonies that she had instigated were running right through him and he thought that he was going to be sick again. His eyes were watering and he had no energy left to talk to her.

'Now will you love me?' she asked.


	7. Beating

Fixation  
Chapter7  
Beating

"_**The goal of life is to make your **__**heartbeat**__** match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.**__**" – Joseph Campbell**_

Garcia was excited. She had surveillance footage that showed someone pulling Aaron into a car. She had a side view of a face and part of a licence plate. She told Morgan.

I'm running the face through my facial recognition program. If she had a drivers licence i will find her.' she said. 'I'm running the partial licence plate through the dmv database. I'll let you know as soon as i have anything.'

'Good girl.' Morgan said. 'I don't need to tell you it's urgent.'

He closed the phone and looked at the other agents patiently awaiting news.

'We have a good lead.' he said.

-0-0-0-

_He is laying beside me trying to pretend I'm not here. I think I made him cry when I hurt him, and boy was that a turn on – the mighty Hotchner reduced to tears by me._

_Yes I know that he doesn't have a name anymore, but I thought that it sounded good. He's so perfect – even the scars on his body are perfect. I will ask him one day how he got them._

_I'm running my fingers down his leg as far as I can reach. I felt him shudder when I touched him. He is probably afraid that I am going to hurt him again. Well if he won't respond I might have to!_

_The last man I had..... do you want to know about him? He was younger than this one, but not as perfect. I didn't love him so much, but at least he made love to me! It was a disappointment when he died. I was just getting used to him. But he died and that was that. I kept him for another week, but I had to get rid of him in the end._

_It's quite amazing how much a dead man weighs compared with a living man, even a drugged living man. It killed my back dragging him to the car, and hauling him out at the river side. I wanted to push him in but he was too heavy and I was tired out by then._

_He was smaller than this one too. I'll never be able to drag this one if he dies. I'll just have to set fire to the house and destroy him that way._

_If he doesn't make love to me, I might do that anyway – pour gasoline on him and watch him burn........ That would be a real shame, but needs must!_

_My fingers are on the inside of his thigh now, the skin is soft and pale. He is rigid lying next to me. If only he would just give in. I know he wants to._

-0-0-0-

Aaron could feel her hands all over him, and it made him feel sick. There was no way he could 'perform' for her, not with the pain he was in. His shredded skin on his back was hurting, the blood drying and sticking to the sheets and each time he moved the wounds opened up and bled again. He had no feeling in his hand and arm where the plastic bond was around his bicep. The gun shot wound to his shoulder hurt too, but not as much as he thought it would. He thought it hadn't gone too deep, probably a point two two.

The worst pain was coming from his groin. Her hands were near there again, and he held his breath. She had one hand on his skin and the other in his hair. He lay quite still and didn't move. He thought that she would start hitting him again if he showed any defiance, but he couldn't show willingness to comply with her insane wishes.

She leaned in to kiss him, and he tried to turn his head away. She tightened her grip on his hair and pulled his face towards her. She sucked on his mouth and bit his lip, drawing blood. Aaron closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the pain. She pulled away, leaving blood and spit on his mouth. He longed to wipe it away, my had to be content with the feeling of it running down his chin.

She got off the bed.

'I've given you so many chances!' she ranted, 'And look, you are throwing everything back in my face. I brought you in here where it is more comfortable, and still you reject me! What have I done to deserve this treatment?'

Aaron didn't answer. The woman was in a rage and he guessed that anything he said would simply enrage her more. he turned his face away from her and tried to turn his hips to the side to protect himself. Linda left the room, and Aaron sighed with relief. Even a few seconds alone was a relief to him. She returned seconds later with a length of wood. It was about the length and width of a base ball bat, but it was unfinished rough wood. She used it to beat him.

The wood came down on his shins, the corner cutting into his unprotected flesh. he bit down on his lip trying to deflect the pain she was causing. Again and again she brought the wood down on him, slowly moving up his body toward his groin. He shifted on the bed, anything to move away from her, but the violence was unleashed now, and she didn't seem able to stop. She brought the wood down on him, and he saw stars as she damaged him. Then across his abdomen, working her way up to his chest.

But he couldn't feel anymore pain, his brain was saturated now. The excruciating agonies from his groin overshadowed everything else. However long she hit him for, she couldn't hurt him any more than she had already.

She threw the bloody piece of wood to the ground, finally realising in her addled mind that killing him wouldn't make him love her.

Aaron couldn't speak. He continued biting his lip to stop him from screaming with pain. The agonies rolled across him in shocking knife edged waves. He heard the wooden stale fall to the floor, and he risked turning to look at her.

She stood there looking at him, her arms bloody to the wrists, her face and body spattered with cast off. He took in a shuddering sigh. He had talked down UnSubs before, but usually they had a modicum of sanity for him to work with. Even Dowd had had some sanity left. But this woman was completely insane. Nothing he said or could say was going to get through to her.

He closed his eyes and turned away. None of the blows she had meted out on him were fatal. But he thought added together, if she didn't let up, it could send his body into shock and that would kill him.

'What happened to the last man?' he asked, hoping to sidetrack her.

'He died.' she said distractedly. I beat him to death.' she wiped her bloody hands on her dress. 'I didn't want him dead, he just died.' Her hands stuck to the thin fabric of her dress and Aaron could see that she was getting annoyed.

'You need to wash them.' he said, hoping that she would leave the room for a while and allow him to try to think of a way to escape. He wasn't so cold now, and his brain function was returning. If he could just get her to untie him, there was a chance that he could escape.

'I think you're right.' she said, pulling the fabric of her dress off her hands. Abruptly she turned and left the room.

Aaron pulled against the restraints. They were formed of cable ties, and were made not to break. But as he pulled with all his remaining strength, he felt the plastic give a little. She came back into the room. her hands were free of blood now, but she still had cast off across her face, and he upper arms were still covered with blood.

-0-0-0-

_I hate the feel of blood on me. It makes me feel dirty. There is blood behind my nails and it feels horrible._

_I certainly was entertained by beating LoverMan with the piece of wood. It hasn't made him love me, but I'm sure he will think twice before he cringes away from me again._

_I love the wet sound the wood made as it struck his flesh, and the way his skin quivered as I beat him. I am so tired now though. My Man is lying on top of the bed. I can pull the sheets out from under him and cover us both with it. I will cuddle up close to him, and kiss his neck – oooh that sounds wonderful!_

_The sheets aren't coming out from under him very easily. I have to pull real hard to get them out. I see his face contort with pain as the sheet pulls away from his back._

_There. I've done it. I stand in front of him and allow my dress to fall to the floor. I wonder if seduction will work on him. He's turned away from me._

_I lie down beside him and pull the covers over us. We look like two lovers in bed together. That is, if his arms weren't tied above his head._

_Momentarily I consider releasing them, but I don't trust him not to try to escape. My last man did and I had to punish him severely. I think that's when he died actually, and I'm not ready to lose this one yet. He's too lovely._

_He has a deep cut across his chest. I wonder how he did that. I will ask him in the morning. Now I just want to sleep beside him. Who knows? Maybe tonight will be the night!_

_I put my arms around him and feel his heart beat in his chest. It is a wonderful thing, to feel my lover's heart pumping his life blood through his veins. I roll so that I am against him, and press my body to his. I can feel him breathing too. It is awesome. I love this man so much. I'll let him recover tonight. Maybe tomorrow he will be ready to give me what I need._

-0-0-0-

'I have a match!' Garcia yelled at no one. She quickly dialled Morgan's number.

'The font of all knowledge has come up trumps again!' she announced to Morgan as soon as he had his phone open.

'Tell me, Princess.' he countered.

'I had three possible matches with the facial recognition program, and one hundred and sixty three possible from the licence plate. I cross checked them, and I got a match!' Garcia was so excited her words were falling over each other to escape. 'Linda Alison Avery, and I have an address for you.'

'That's sweet, Baby Girl. let me have the information on my phone asap.'

'Already sent!' she said, as Morgan's phone beeped.

Morgan turned to the other three. 'I think we have our UnSub. Emily, let's go!'

-0-0-0-

Aaron was lying rigid next to the woman who was torturing him. She wanted a sex slave, but she had beaten him so badly, he wouldn't be able to respond to her if he wanted to. He knew that he had lost a good deal of blood, and he needed a drink again. Most of the last one he has vomited up. There was no way he could escape unless she untied him, and he didn't think that was likely.

His back was bleeding again where she had pulled the sheet away, and the bed beneath him was sodden with his blood. He felt her hands on him again, and he tried to turn away from her.

**A/N. I am going on holiday where there is no wifi, so I won't be able to update for a week. Please be patient. I will be back.**

**Thank you for your reviews and encouragement. Aggie xxx**


	8. Taken

Fixation  
Chapter 8  
Taken

**_"Of the delights of this world, man cares most for sexual intercourse. He will go to any length for it-risk fortune, character, reputation, life itself." - Mark Twain_**

Linda slept peacefully lying close to Aaron. She was on her front, one arm draped across his battered chest. Raw agony pulsated through his body, and he used her time asleep to try to recover from the abuse he had suffered under her hands.

Her former captive she had kept until he died, and he expected that he would die at her hands if help didn't come soon.

He tried to take stock of his injuries but the screaming pain from his groin obscured all else. He knew he was bleeding from his legs and chest, but he couldn't feel that. He was afraid to think what she had done to his genitals, the pain was so great, they couldn't hurt more if she had torn them off. He flexed the muscles in his thighs, and felt the stickiness of blood there. He didn't dare move more than that for fear he might awaken her, and set off her insane rage again.

He wondered about sleeping. He doubted he would be able to sleep though. His mind was full of thoughts of escape, and trying to think of a way to make her untie him. She was dreaming, and her hand twitched on his chest, her nails digging into the wound she had recently put there. He gritted his teeth as she seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on him even in her sleep. He felt blood well up around her probing fingers, and his head started to spin as he tried to ignore what she was doing to no avail.

Her hand relaxed as another aspect of her dream took over, and he moved slightly so that the hand was not over the wound.

He heard a moan from her as she dreamed, and her hand slowly covered the distance between the wound and his groin where she cupped him gently and began to massage him. He knew then that he was bleeding from somewhere because her hand felt sticky on him, and he threw back his head in an effort not to respond to her.

He thought about his little boy and tried to concentrate on him. He knew the treachery of the body and couldn't allow himself to respond to her. He knew she would rape him if she could, and that was not an option.

He was on a beach with Haley and Jack. He had built a sand castle for Jack and watched with pleasure as he took delight in tearing it down. He felt Jack in his arms as he carried him exhausted back to the car at the end of the day, he smelled his salty hair and kissed his sun warmed skin. Then he was snatched back to now as her nails dug in the soft sensitive skin, and formed little crescent shaped cuts, dark against the pale skin.

He sucked in his bottom lip and bit down. He blinked hard, stopping the tears of pain from rolling down his cheeks. He couldn't allow himself to cry. Self control was all he had left to fight with.

-0-0-0-

_I think I nodded off for a short while, and the pleasure of waking up lying so close to LoverMan overwhelmed me. His beauty and warmth seeped through me and spread to every fibre of my body. My hand was on the gash across his chest when I woke, but gently I move my fingers down to the tops of his legs, softly touching him as a lover would, stroking him, waiting for his response._

_There is none. He rejects me even now. Pressing my fingertips into his skin, I feel the skin burst under my pressure, and his blood runs onto my fingers._

_Lifting myself onto my elbow, I put my face onto his chest and kiss him, biting gently at his nipples and sucking at the surrounding skin, hard and muscled. He groans softly, I hope with pleasure, and it makes me sigh with an ecstatic wave of desire. I reach up to his face and kiss his soft neck, and outline his jaw with my tongue. I want him so bad, so bad I could kill him .......... _

_I lift one leg and kneel astride him, my hands gripping his arms, feeling the tense musculature of his biceps. I bend my legs under his, and press down on him ........... I collapse against his neck and bite hard and the pleasure sends tingling sensations all over my body and I hear a cry of perfect satisfaction ....... I realise it's me. My body shudders and I have taken him, he is mine now, and he can't ever leave me except into the claws of death ..... _

-0-0-0-

He lay rigid and unresponsive as she leaned down and sucked at his chest. He groaned in pain as the wounds on his chest moved under her pressure. He felt rather than heard her sigh, and Aaron tried not to cringe as she knelt across him, but she was so in the throes of passion, she wouldn't have noticed. As she twisted her legs under his thighs, he tried to remain flat on the bed, but her legs were strong, and she pulled his knees up off the bed a few inches.

She bit hard his neck, and a tremor of pain shook his tortured body, which she took for pleasure, and she responded in kind, and he cringed under her as she pressed down hard onto him, and cried out in her desire. She suddenly weakened and collapsed onto him, shaking and clutching his arms with her rough hands, her face pressed against his bruised neck, breathing deeply and ecstatically.

'You are mine now.' she said. 'Only death can take you from me now.' she said.

She had taken him even without his body responding to her. She had raped him, and he suddenly felt sick. His stomach twisted under the assault of emotions – hate and self loathing that he had allowed this insane creature to take from him the one thing he held as sacred. This time he could not stop the tears, He wanted her heavy body off him, away from him, he wanted her to take her foul wetness and go, but she was nuzzling his neck and licking his jaw, and then she was there, kissing him with all the passion she was embraced in, whispering her love for him, and promising him she would never leave him.

He pulled away from her kiss and turned his head to the side, and vomited violently onto the bed. His stomach heaved and twisted as his body rejected what had just been done to him, as he fought against the feeling of the abuse, but the feeling played over again as she knelt back and looked down on him.

He was dry vomiting now, there being nothing left for his stomach to reject, but still he heaved in response to her.

When it was over he lay still, panting for breath and his breaths coming in harsh miserable sobs. She realised what he was doing and she raised her fist to him. She brought it down where seconds before she had been kissing him, splitting his lips against his teeth, and filling his mouth with thick blood. He spat into the pool of stomach juices that had collected on the bed under his face, and he turned his head slowly so that he was looking into her eyes.

'You can rape me, you can beat me. I can't stop you. But you will never be able to make me love you. I despise you, and that is all.' His voice was thick and hoarse. Blood was on his lips.

She raised herself off him, and punched his face with all her strength. She caught his cheek below his left eye and his neck cracked as his head was thrown back. He closed his eyes against the tears of shock and pain that threatened, and he looked away from her.

-0-0-0-

_He has hurt me beyond measure; I cannot believe what he has just said to me. He has said that he despises me, after everything I have done for him, and he won't return my love._

_No matter, I can take him as and when I wish. Only his words can cut like a knife, but I won't let him win against me. He is mine now, until he dies._

_I am lying next to him, face down on the bed, my left arm draped over his chest. He feels warm and muscular against my skin, and it excites me again. Turning on my side, I slide my other arm beneath him, and draw him to me. I feel him shudder as my long fingernails catch the wounds I inflicted on his back, but my courageous man does not cry out or fight me. No he just lays still and waits for me._

'_I love you.' I whisper, and I kiss his bloodied lips. I can taste the saltiness of his blood and sweat, and I shudder in turn with desire for this helpless man that I have in my power. I suck at him, and raise myself over him and look down at him. For a moment, his deep and dark eyes lock with mine, and I am sure that he could read my soul at that moment._

_I sigh. I never in my most wonderful dreams guessed that one day I would have such a man to myself. He has turned his head from me now, and I can see his hair is matted with blood and vomit. I am pushing my hands through his hair._

_He is saying something to me. I lower my body to him so that I can hear his words._

'_I need a drink.' he whispers. I can hear his voice is croaky, and I unwrap my arms from him and get off the bed. I will not drug him again; I have him where I want him._

_I have a sports bottle with orange flavoured water in, and I hold it to his lips. His eyes are closed as he sips at the water, sucking hard on the fluid; some is running down his chin and dripping onto the bed._

'_Enough.' I say, and remove the bottle from him. He whispers 'Thank you.'_

-0-0-0-

The water tasted good on Aaron's dry palate. He coughed slightly as the liquid came too quickly and some precious water ran down his chin onto the bed. Linda left him for a moment, and returned with a bowl of soapy water and a cloth. She wet the cloth and began to wash him.

She began at his feet, gently washing away the blood that had dried there from the tight restraints that held them. Then slowly up his legs to his groin. She tried not to be angry as he pulled himself away from her as she carefully washed him. Pink water ran down his hips onto the bed.

His hips, and up his sides to his arm pits, and then across his chest. Water was dripping from his wet body onto the bed, but she didn't care. The feeling of washing him was so sensual she was bursting with desire.

She washed the clotted blood from his chest, leaving a raw gash and a hole on his pale and perfect skin.

Again she saw the scars on his chest and arms. She touched them in turn, counting them.

Nine.

'Who did this to you?' she said. Her man didn't answer. She paused on the scar in the middle of his breast bone, touching it lightly with rough fingers, wondering how anyone could hurt him. 'Who did this?'

She pressed down on the scar, and felt his body shudder, whether in pain or simply the memory. He didn't answer her though. The memory was too distressing for him. It brought to his mind his little boy, somewhere out there beyond his reach, somewhere where he couldn't hurt him.

Tears filled his eyes, and Linda noticed them. She leaned down and kissed away the tears, relishing their taste and what they stood for. She took the cloth and held it to his bruised cheek, allowing the water to run into his hair. Gently she wiped the blood from his battered mouth, and cooled his eyes. Then she rinsed his thick dark hair, soaking the bed with diluted blood.

'Don't be sad.' she said. 'I am here.'

And she climbed onto him again, nuzzling her face into his damp hair and neck, biting gently and feeling the excitement overpower her again.


	9. Trapped

Fixation  
Chapter 9  
Trapped

"_**No man knows when his hour will come; As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are **__**trapped**__** by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them**__**"**_

'FBI!' yelled Morgan as he kicked the door down.

Linda Avery's home was a squalid apartment in a rough area of town. The door gave way easily, the paint on it cracked and peeling with age. One by one the three rooms were cleared. Avery was not home. Morgan put the warrant on the table amongst the dirty plates and detritus that seemed to adorn every surface.

'Nice place.' Emily muttered as she went through the papers in a cluttered desk against on one wall.

The two agents tore the place apart looking for anything that might tell them where Hotch was.

'It doesn't look like he was ever here.' Emily said. 'She must have another place.'

Morgan bagged some bank statements, and they left the rooms. They had found nothing incriminating on the premises, but Morgan had an ideas about the bank records. He would take them to Garcia and see what she could dig up.

As they left the building, someone was watching from the trees over the road.......

-0-0-0-

_I need to move Loverman. The cops have found my apartment and now they will find this place. I only wanted some fresh sheets for the bed. His skin keeps sticking to them and they are covered with mess. I need to keep him safe. I don't want to have him taken off me. I would rather he died._

_I have a secret place I can hide him. I need to hurry back to hide him before they find my other home._

_I hate driving. I have no control over the other drivers. I hate the lack of control. I control my Lover. Now he is mine, he will come around and love me. He knows how I feel, and sooner or later he will respond to the love I've shown him._

_I'm thinking of him as I drive back to him. Pale and weakened by the beating, but with an inner strength that I love so much. He is unbreakable, and I long for the time when I can free his arms so that he can hold me against him._

_I know I hurt him. I had to, to make him submit. He has to obey. I am getting excited now talking about him. I can't talk anymore........_

-0-0-0-

Arriving back in the bedroom, he looked almost peaceful. He was sleeping, exhausted after his ordeal. He was clean now, except he was lying on soiled bed sheets.

'I couldn't get a change of sheets.' she said to the sleeping man. 'I have to keep you asleep so that I can move you though.'

She looked at her man, the man she loved. She could drug him or beat him unconscious.

She was running out of the drug. She blinked back the tears as she picked up the stale she had hit him with before. She looked down on his sleeping form, his head to the side, long eye lashes resting on his cheek. She felt something burn inside her – a rage that he could just lie there asleep after everything they had been through together.

She swung the wood, and hit him on the back of the head as hard as she could, hoping it wouldn't kill him, but not caring too much. Blood and hair stuck to the wood as she raised it for a second swing. Cast off hit the carved plaster ceiling and the brocade on the walls.

His eyes opened in shock. The blow didn't knock him out, but his vision was blurred and when he tried to speak his words were slurred and unintelligible. She smiled at her man.

'I love you.' she said as she swung her weapon again. This time there was a cracking sound as the skull fractured; his eyes rolled and he passed out.

Quickly she ran to the corner of the room and lifted a section of floor board. Below there was a tiny hide which had been incorporated into the house in the war. She propped the section of floor against the wall and went back to him. He was moaning under his breath, starting to come round already.

She cut the ties at his ankles first, then his wrists. The man lay on the bed, bleeding from the new wounds on the back of his head. He looked so beautiful, she almost forgot what she was doing.

She tore a length of the sheet and shoved it into his mouth. Some of the splits on his lips opened up again and soaked the sheet in blood. Next she tied a strip of sheet around his head to hold the gag in place. Then she tied his ankles and wrists together. She had to have him under her control.

She pulled him off the bed by his ankles, and dragged him across the floor to the entrance to the hide. Without thinking about it too much, she tipped him through the hole and he fell the five or so feet to the bottom.

It pleased her to think that the hide was still useful after all this time. She looked down at him, naked and crumpled on the floor.

'I will join you soon, Lover.' she whispered to him.

There was blood on the floor showing where she had dragged him. The bowl of water she had used to wash his body with was still by the bed. Using the cloth, she washed the blood from the floor boards. As she held the cloth in her hands she remembered the feeling of washing him, and her body shuddered with excitement again. She looked across to the open hide, and smiled. No one was going to take him from her.

Nothing except death.

-0-0-0-

'I've been looking through these bank statements,' Garcia said, 'and I've found something interesting.'

Morgan stood and looked over her shoulder at what Garcia had found. She pointed to the screen.

'She inherited twenty thousand dollars from his maternal grandmother eighteen months ago, and she inherited her house.'

'She has a house?' Morgan leaned in closer. 'Do we have an address?'

Garcia smiled and pointed further down the screen. 'There it is. I'll text you it.'

-0-0-0-

_I can hear the sirens. I wanted to clean the bed before they got here but I don't think I'll have time. At least the drag marks are gone. The cops will never find us in the hide._

_The hide was only meant for one person, it's a bit crowded in here, but it is good being so close to him. He is cold again down here, and I put my arms around him to keep him warm. It is exciting, like a game we are playing. He is waking up now and he makes a sound from his throat. His eyes are open and he's looking at me._

'_I love you so much.' I say, and I kiss his forehead. I would prefer to kiss his lips, but I dare not remove the gag._

_I can hear people downstairs. I think it's Loverman's people looking for him. I hold him closer and press my face into his soft hair. I will keep you safe, my treasure. No one will take you from me._

-0-0-0-

'FBI. Open the door.' Emily shouted. She was leaning against the wall on one side of the door. Morgan was standing the other side. He reached across and opened the door, and the two agents entered the house, in shooting stance.

The hall was a wide room, the carpet on the floor threadbare and dirty. The chandelier was hung with webs and the dust was thick in the air. Emily struggled against the urge to cough. There were six doors from the hall, with a wide staircase at the end.

'Look here.' Emily said, stooping down close to the floor. 'These stains could be blood.'

One by one they checked each room. The furniture was old and dusty, some covered with cloths. The air smelled musty and of damp and mold. The kitchen had been used recently. There were dirty cups in the sink. Emily picked up a small bottle, half filled with a clear liquid.

'Poison...... or drug?' she said. Morgan nodded and she replaced the bottle.

They took the stairs carefully, guns ready, not knowing what they would find. Morgan silently pointed out drops of blood on the stairs carpet.

The first room they looked in was a bedroom. The window was broken and a freezing wind howled through, lifting the curtains and blowing around the room. Emily shivered as she looked at the bed. There was a dark stain on the counterpane that looked like blood, and drag marks on the floor. She touched the stain with the tips of her fingers. It was dry.

'Something has happened here.' she said, 'But not in the last day. This blood is dry.'

Morgan was following the drag marks out of the door and along the corridor of the hall.

'Oh my god!'

-0-0-0-

_I can hear them walking around above us. Lover tries to call out so I press down on his throat. His eyes bulge comically and I have to force myself not to giggle. I release his throat slightly. I don't want him dead down her; I'll never get him out without help!_

_He makes a strange sound in his throat but he doesn't try to make any noise now. He is looking up towards the now closed entrance to the hide. He is shivering severely now, and I am cuddling him, and I can't help touching him – after all, it is a tight squeeze down here._

_No response still. The rage is building up in me, but I have to stay quiet if I don't want to be found._

_Someone has just walked across the door. If only they knew how close they were!_

_A woman's voice says, 'Someone has been here recently. This blood is fresh.'_

'_The cast off' says a man's voice, 'is still running down the walls.'_

'_He can't be far.' The man again. 'Avery must have escaped by car.'_

'_I'll get road blocks set up.'_

_A bit more conversation, completely on the wrong track, and I hear the footsteps walk around the room, and I can smile. Road blocks! They'll never find me now._

_My man is making noises again, so I do the throat thing, and his eyes widen and his face is all red. Not so pretty now._

_I'll have to wait down here for a while. Make sure they have gone._

_Cozy up close with my lover. I pull him in position and press myself on him. The excitement is too much now. My Babe closes his eyes and turns his head away._

-0-0-0-

Emily touched the bed, the human stains still wet and the bed still warm.

'This is where she held him.' she said, under her breath.

Morgan was looking at the blood on the walls and ceiling. He shuddered as he thought of what Hotch was going through. He picked up the wooden stale Avery had used with a gloved hand.

'It looks as if he has been beaten.' Morgan said. Emily didn't say anything. But she feared for the life of her colleague. Morgan replaced the length of wood and moved towards the door. 'We'll get CSI down here, although I don't think we will get much more than we already know.'

Hotch felt tears of frustration and shame fill his eyes as Linda climaxed on him again, and he tried not to think of being trapped down here with her for a long time to come.


	10. CSI

Fixation  
Chapter 10  
CSI

"_**A woman can **__**hide**__** her love for 40 years, but her disgust and anger not for one day**__**" Arab proverb**_

_So they are going to send some CSI's to look around my house. That means I have to get my man out of here pretty quick now. I hear the cars drive away, and I push the door to the hide open._

_I need to get my man out of the hide. I have a feeling that he will not co-operate with me, and I am going to have to threaten him again. He should have learned by now that I am in charge of our relationship, although when he is ready, I will let him have a say in what we do. I'm looking forward to that time; the time when we can be a normal couple._

_Looking don on him, I can see that I've done some real damage to him. I can see the top of his head, and his hair is all matted with gore. I hope it is only blood. I don't want to damage him too much._

'_Time to get out now.' I say to him. He struggles to stand, although his hands are tied, his feet are not. He is leaning against the corner of the hide, his head and shoulders proud and stiff. 'Get out.'_

_He is shaking his head now. I try to pull him but he pulls back. I can't get him out. I will have to run on my own, and leave him behind._

'_I haven't got time for this!' And I go and pick up my weapon. He stares at me with dark defiant eyes. He does not flinch as I bring down the wooden stale on him, but he crumples up on the floor of the hide._

_I think he's dead. I don't have time to check, the damned CSIs will be here soon, and I have to get out._

_I use a sheet off the bed and rip it into strips, and tie them together. I jump down next to him, and thread the rope I have made under his arms and clamber back out holding the ends. There is somewhere outside where we can hide now. I heave him out of the hole, feeling my back protest at the weight, and lay him on the sheet. I wrap it around his motionless body, ready to take him outside. This way there won't be the drag marks! Clever, I am!_

'_Why are you bothering?' I can hear you ask. Well, even a dead body has its uses, especially one as lovely as this one._

_When I get to the top of the stairs, I think for a moment. I could carry him, at the risk of my back, drag him, or let him fall._

_I decide the third option is probably the best, so I tie the sheet firmly around him, and start to roll him to the top step._

_It is now that he lets me know that he is not dead after all! He's making a sound from his throat._

_Now what do I do? I still have the three options, but if he's alive he might as well remain so. I can't just throw him down now._

_Crap. I lift him by the shoulders and pull him after me and let his body thump down the stairs. He is silent through most of it, and soon we are at the bottom. The rest will be easy._

-0-0-0-

Dragging her bundle through the garden, towards the ice house at the end. This was going to be cold, and it struck Linda that she ought to have brought some blankets with her.

Her bundle started to move as she neared her destination, and she thought to find a new weapon. Even if she only used it to threaten him, it would be useful. He was much stronger than she was, and she needed a weapon to even things up a bit.

She would get him to the ice house and then go and fetch a hammer from the shed.

She couldn't pull him directly to the ice house because the grass was long and wet and her trail would be easily seen. She had to stick to the paths. She could hear the sound of approaching vehicles, and she quickened her pace.

Aaron was half aware of what was happening to him. He was being moved, but he couldn't remember why. Were the team going to find him?

His team. The best in the world, hand picked by him. Except Prentiss, but then she had earned her place beside the others.

They would find him; of that he had no doubt. But would they find him alive, or would they be looking for a corpse.

He summonsed up the strength to resist, and as he was being dragged outside, he tried to get out of her grip. She dropped him, but quickly picked him back up, and continued dragging him. They were outside now, and he thought they were going to try to escape by car. he would save his meagre energy for when she tried to get him into the car boot.

If that was her plan.....

The ground was rough, and he could feel every sharp stone and piece of twig cutting into him as she dragged him ..... where?

Suddenly the ground changed to smooth concrete, and his body was pulled down steps to somewhere. He felt himself drifting out of consciousness, and he fought the inclination to give in to it. He was in pain, but he could remember someone saying that his body was going to go numb. He wasn't able to remember who said those words, but they were coming true now.

Linda dropped him onto the floor of the ice house. They were underground now, and it was bitterly cold. Hotch was shaking now, rather than shivering. He thought briefly that he would die of hypothermia, if she didn't kill him first.

She pulled the sheet away from his face, and looked down at him. There was very little light down here, but a few stray beams managed to follow them down into the ice house. He didn't look afraid. She marvelled at his strength of character and his resilience. She loosened the sheet so that he was exposed to her, and she cupped him in her hands, massaging gently.

'I want you to make love to me. ' she said softly. She put her face close to his, and pressed herself against his hair. She had nothing to wash him with now, and she was sorry. But even if she had, it would be too cold to wash him.

So she stroked him with her other hand.

She had put on the thin summer dress again, and a thick cardigan on top to keep her warm. But her man had nothing except the thin sheet she had wrapped him in.

He wasn't going to last too long down here. She had to take what she could before he died.

She knelt across his hips and rocked rhythmically, humming to herself. Aaron turned his face away from her, but this did not deter her from bending down and kissing him. She whispered her love for him, and bit his ear lobe until she tasted his salty blood.

She took her time, stroking him and moving gently, hoping that he would respond. Aaron removed himself to another place, as he shook with the cold beneath her.

He had ceased to feel pain now, his body numb as he had been told it would be. He tried to control his shaking, but the floor was like ice and he was too cold. Mentally he held his son, that first meeting after Foyet; the glorious warmth of his child in his arms. But he couldn't hold the image. He was too weak, and he was back in the freezing dark place with this woman who declared her love with her lips, and denied her words as she beat him senseless.

He felt the need to vomit, as if this would remove him from this awful place. But he couldn't allow himself the luxury while the gag was in his mouth.

His stomach twisted none the less, and his throat filled with bile, having no way out except through his nose.

The burning liquid ran down his nose and flowed back into his lungs. For a second he allowed it to happen, glad of the potential release.

But his lungs protested despite his resolution, and he coughed in his throat against the gag.

He tried to breathe in through his fluid filled nose, and he was aware of the gag being removed.

He coughed the foul liquid out of his lungs, his throat on fire from the acids.

Linda looked on in alarm. She turned his body onto its side, and hit his back to try to clear his lungs. He was fighting for breath and vomiting at the same time, and choking on the fluids in his mouth and nose.

'Come on Loverman, don't you dare die now!' She smacked his face as if that was going to help him, and thumped his lacerated back with her hands. 'I want you! don't you die!' she hissed, daring not to shout out in case she was heard. Gradually, Aaron managed to get control of his breathing and at last he realised that he wasn't going to die just yet. She knelt up, and rolled him onto his back again. The stray light caught his eyes, and she saw that they were filled with water. She wiped away the tears and kissed his wonderful eyes.

'I could drown in your eyes, you are so beautiful.' She stroked his face gently. 'If you promise not to cry out, I will leave the gag off.' She took his face in both hands and looked down at him. 'Do you promise?'

He nodded. 'Yes.' he said softly.

The near drowning of her man had taken away the desperate need to have him, but the feeling was still there, dormant, awaiting an awakening. She knelt down across his hips and rocked.

-0-0-0-

Morgan and Emily returned to the house with the CSIs. the first thing they noticed was the sign across the door opening saying not to enter – crime scene had been torn across as if someone inside had opened the door.

'They were inside the house.' Emily said, dismayed at how close they had been.

'Where though.' Morgan said. 'We searched the place.'

The CSIs were in the kitchen, photographing and bagging evidence. Emily pointed out the half empty bottle on the work top. That too was bagged.

'Treat that as urgent.' Morgan said. The CSI looked annoyed.

'We are treating this whole case as urgent.'

There was a call from upstairs in the bedroom. The soiled sheets had been photographed and bagged, and the floor sprayed with Luminol.

'Looky here.' the young CSI said. She pointed to the pattern on the floor that the Luminol had revealed.

The pattern was of bloody drag marks that appeared to stop suddenly towards the corner of the room.

Emily went to the corner and got on her knees, examining the floor. 'There's a trap door here.' she said. 'Help me to open it.'

But she didn't need any help. Pushed in the right place, and the door lifted easily.

The sides and floor of the hide was smeared with blood, and Morgan pointed to cast off above the hole.

'This wasn't here before.' he said. 'She's hit him again.'

'They were here, right under our feet when we were here before.' Emily said. 'They can't be far. Her car is still here.'

'Search this house from top to bottom.' Morgan said. 'They are still here somewhere.'

-0-0-0-

_My desire for this man is all but overwhelming. I can't stop. I can't see his face, but he is moaning when I press down on him. That could mean anything, but I'm betting it's desire in return. He's sure to love me now, I saved his life and he would return that gratitude as love. Can't talk anymore........_

-0-0-0-

Aaron moaned with pain as she pressed herself onto him and she leaned back, releasing her grip on his arms as she finished. Then she folded herself onto him, biting his neck and caressing him. She ran her tongue over the tie that was around his arm. It was drawing droplets of blood now, and she delighted in licking the blood away.

'I love you. Never leave me.'


End file.
